


Chapter Three “Rise and Fall”

by Dynogadget



Series: BATIM Charlotte's au [4]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Charlotte’s au, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:00:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29151624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dynogadget/pseuds/Dynogadget
Summary: A continuation do please read the others in the series if you haven’t.
Relationships: Charlie and Sammy
Series: BATIM Charlotte's au [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2069577
Comments: 3
Kudos: 1





	1. Part 1: Where is Here?

**Author's Note:**

> I have finally finished writing the whole story and in celebration I will give you this next part today. I hope you enjoy it.

Charlie slowly woke up to the view of a ceiling fan above her. Looking around she noticed she was in a small makeshift bedroom lying right next to Sammy. At the sudden realization that she was lying right next to the man who tried to kill her not too long before she passed out and woke up wherever she was, she immediately jumped out of the cot both of them were lying in. Thankfully her sudden movements were not enough to wake him, but she really did not want to take her chances that he would stay this way long enough for her to get as far away from him as possible.

She slowly backed out of the room and found that this place that she now assumed was a hideout, was a bit bigger than she thought, when she eventually found Borris sitting at a table just staring back at her.

She looked around a bit only to find a mechanical door. But upon closer inspection she found that the lever to the door was missing. After a short pause, she said “I’m not getting out of here that easy. I need to open the door but the lever is missing. Boris probably has it.” She turned back and looked at Boris and asked “Hey buddy. Have you seen that lever handle around? Or are you holding it hostage until I make you something to eat? I thought so. Let’s see what we got.”

She started looking around for some form of food and said “What luck” in a very sarcastic tone. Charlie had happened upon a can of Bacon soup. Even though she never really liked the stuff she thought at least it was something. But this wasn’t enough to actually feed Boris so she started to look around for some more. Walking back to the bedroom, she found Sammy awake.


	2. Part 2: Sammy!!!

He was sitting up on the bed holding his Bendy mask in both hands looking down at it sorrowfully with two glowing white eyes. Charlie dropped the can in her hand when she saw him causing him to snap out of his thoughts and look up at her. They both stayed in place motionless as they both stared intently at each other. Charlie’s hand started shaking as she started to reach for the door, not daring to take her eyes off of Sammy for a second. He noticed this and reached out a hand saying almost desperately “Wait. Don’t go.” She stopped looking very confused at what might have once been a man sitting in front of her.

Lowering his hand back to holding the mask he sighed and looked back at his mask saying “I’m sorry for what I did to you.” He paused trying to find the words and started “And I know that there isn’t anything I can do to make you forgive me, but… If you could just give me a chance to explain, then…” As he trailed off Charlie eased her posture a bit and came closer to him putting a hand on his mask and asked in a caring tone “What happened?”

Sammy looked back up at her not really expecting the response he got but letting out a sigh as he started “It all started when you left.

Joey couldn’t really make the cartoons like we used to and he started wanting to make the cartoons come to life. For him animatronics wouldn’t work so he looked to dark magic for his answers. He started to become a bit more secluded and then he wanted to see multiple employees all at once.

I was one of the people he invited to his office that day. All I remember was that I walked into his office and then I woke up as this ink thing. But the studio looked almost like how it is now and I found that everybody who worked here was gone. Later I found out that they weren’t gone, but they had all turned into these ink creatures like me. I had seen almost all of them prasing Bendy as if he was a god and eventually I became so desperate and thought that maybe he did have all these god-like powers and maybe he could return me back to normal. This all started to drive me insane which ended up in me attacking you and doing those horrible things.”

He looked back down at his mask defeatedly saying “You probably can’t forgive me for everything I did, and there would be no way for me to easily make up for it, but-” Cutting him off mid sentence Charlie bent down and hugged him tightly knocking him off guard.

“I already do,” she said, “and I am so sorry for what happened to you.”

He wasn’t sure what to do, so he hugged back saying “Thank you. For everything.”

Eventually letting go of him Charlie moved to sit down next to him, then looked down at the ink stain he left on her shirt. In a playful mocking tone she said “If I knew my clothes were going to get ruined today, I wouldn’t have worn something nice.”

Sammy looked at her shirt and while putting his mask down next to him, he apologized saying “Oh! I’m sorry for that. There really isn’t much I can do about…” as he paused to gesture to himself “me.” He put his hands on his lap and looked up at Charlie with a small smile. She smiled back and for a while they sat there in awkward silence not saying a word to each other. Finally Charlie spoke, breaking the silence asking “Do you know a way out of this studio?”

Sammy looked puzzled at this question. Maybe he knew about as much as she did, but if that were the case then how would they get out? After a little while Sammy finally said “I only know of the exit that is also the entrance upstairs and the exit from the music studio.” he put a hand to his chin and continued, “If we could get back up to either the music studio or higher, then you could get out of here. But I don’t even know where we are right now.”

“We are in Borris’s hideout.” She said calmly, “But where that is I really couldn’t tell you.”

“Borris?” He asked a little confused, “Which one? There used to be multiple around here.”

“I really don’t know.” She finally sighed in return to his questions, “All I know is that I want to get out of here and I want to go back to my normal life at home.” When she said this Sammy looked disappointed staring at his lap, and she finally said trying to reassure him “ Sammy, I may want to go home but even if and when I do I’m not going to leave you behind. We will find a way to make you human again and if not then at the very least I don’t want you staying here. If you help me, we can both get out of here, together.”

She held out her left hand and he looked at it for a second and grabbed it firmly saying “Yeah. Let’s work together.”

Suddenly he pulled her arm a bit harder and started examining the wound she had. He started taking off the sleeve that was tied up around it and without looking up from her open wound he asked “What happened to your arm?”

Charlie half heartedly tried to pull back her arm only to find that he wasn’t going to let it go so instead she sheepishly tucked some hair behind one ear and started saying “Well, when I entered the studio I had the idea to turn on the ink machine and hopefully find Joey. Instead of Joey, I found Bendy when I turned on the machine. He chased me while I tried to get to the exit, and when I was almost there the floor under me broke and I cut my arm against one of the wooden floorboards.” At this information, Sammy looked up at her with concern in his eyes, but he finally let her arm go and got up from where he was sitting on the cot. Left with nothing but confusion she asked “Um… Where are you going?”

She put her left arm on her lap as she started reaching for the torn off sleeve she used as bandaging earlier, but was stopped when he said “I’m seeing if there are any medical supplies in this room, or if there is anything better than an ink and blood soaked sleeve to use for your cut.” He went to open up a chest as she got up to look over his shoulder, her wrist being held by her right hand. He had found a first aid kit and she found another can of Bacon soup right next to it. Pulling out the first aid kit he gestured with one hand for her to sit back on the cot and she complied.

He joined her on the cot and as he started digging through the box he had on his lap he said “So, you were the one who turned on the ink machine. I was wondering who did.” Pulling out multiple first aid supplies he then grabbed her arm and opened a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and said “This is going to sting a bit.” She bit her lip from the pain but she did get over it as he finished putting the gauze on and wrapping up her arm in a bandage. Once done he said “There we go. Is that any better?”

“A little” she said, waving around her arm a bit. Standing back up she put a hand on his shoulder and said “Thank you” before she walked back to the chest to grab the can she saw previously. She pulled it out and turned to look back at Sammy who seemed very confused as to what she was doing. In an effort to explain she started “Boris won’t give us the lever to the door out of his hideout until we make him something to eat. I guess that is what I get for making a character with a huge appetite.”

Sammy got up and picked up the can she had dropped previously when she had entered the room. As he turned the can over in his hand he asked “So, how do you know that he will give the lever to you if you feed him? Last I checked, Boris’s don’t talk. And why Bacon soup?” Charlie only smiled as she left the room and gestured for him to follow, which he did willingly.

“Well, for your first question I just have the feeling that this is what he wants.” she started to answer “And for your second question, Bacon soup is the only edible thing around here. But I don’t blame you for asking. I never really liked this stuff, and I don’t think anybody else did either.” She stopped mid stride and turned to ask him “Why? What do you think about it?”

He looked a little uncomfortable trying to think about what his answer would be, and finally said, “I was mostly just wondering, but yeah I have to agree with you, I never really liked the stuff.” But then he noticed something next to him. It was a doorway into a small restroom that had three stalls, three sinks across from the stalls, a mirror right above the sinks, and another can of Bacon soup standing right on top of the sink countertop. He stepped into the room grabbing this third can in his other hand and asked “How many of these cans do we need, because I just found another one.”

Charlie peered through the doorway at the third can he held in his hand and replied cheerfully “Three should be enough. Let’s go and cook this up. I’m starting to feel hungry myself.” And though she was joking around a bit on that last part she was actually telling the truth about feeling hungry. Sammy followed her as she walked into the kitchen and teasingly asked “Since when did you last eat? I mean you have to be desperate to actually want to eat this horrible stuff.”

She thought about this question and wondered to herself “How long have I been in this studio?” Taking a look down at her wrist watch, which she was surprised survived being in this studio, she tentatively answered “Apparently I haven’t eaten since yesterday morning.” And when she said this Sammy looked at her with a worried expression covering his face. He walked over to where she was standing in front of a pot on a stove in what could have been considered a kitchen, to try and help.

“How can you lose track of that much amount of time?”

“Easy.” She replied, “I have passed out at least three times within the past 24 hours. Once was because I stepped on a pentagram that was on the floor. The second time was thanks to you. And the third time was when I saw Boris in a hallway and passed out due to exhaustion from carrying your limp body and being chased by Bendy. But I’m honestly surprised I didn’t get a concussion when you hit me with a shovel.” Looking back on it now she was also surprised that with the multiple times she passed out in the last day that she didn’t have any kind of brain damage.

Sammy pulled her out of her thoughts by placing his hand on her shoulder. As Charlie turned around to look up at him, she noticed the concerned look he had. With a more caring tone he said “ Why don’t you go take a break and sit down. Let me handle the cooking.” She was tired so she just nodded and went to go sit at the table next to Boris. Folding her arms and placing them on the table, she rested her head on her arms and started to fall asleep.

What felt like 5 minutes to her went by before someone started slightly poking the side of her face which caused her to wake up a bit. Tilting her head up she looked to see who woke her, and she found it was Sammy who still had his finger up. He looked happy to see her awake but she on the other hand, did not feel as cheerful at the fact that he woke her up after an entire 5 minute nap. He then said with a bit of a smirk on his face “Good morning.”

Glaring at him Charlie got up from resting on the table and groaned “And you had to wake me up, why?

“Well I finished cooking” he started “and when I went to give you a bowl you were already asleep. I gave a bowl to Boris and he did give me the lever to the door so I let you sleep and worked on fixing the door. I just finished the repair job and since it has been about an hour I thought maybe I should get you up.” Looking at the full bowl still on the table she grabbed for it and mused about how so much time actually went by.


	3. Part 3: Leaving the Nest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven’t uploaded recently I have been sick but am feeling better now.

She quickly finished her meal then got up from her seat and started for the door. Sammy suddenly got up and asked “Where are you going?”

Not turning around to look at him she replied “Leaving this room … attempting to escape this studio.” He then immediately grabbed her arm in an attempt to hold her back.

“Are you sure you don’t want to rest a bit longer first?” The one thing she noticed when she turned around was the worried expression that covered his face. With a smirk she replied saying “Or I could leave you here, where I am sure you’ll be safe and I could even have Boris keep you safe.”

He let go of her arm and sighed out in defeat saying “Alright. Let’s go.” She then grabbed his hand and said “Let’s see what’s out there. Don’t wander off.”

“No offence but you're holding my hand, it's not as if I can leave you even if I wanted to.” Sammy snapped, but his comment didn’t really affect Charlie as all she did was roll her eyes and continue to the door pulling down the lever. The door started to slowly open only to then reveal another hallway.

Charlie looked back to Boris who was still sitting at the table, and asked him, “Are you coming with?” Opening his mouth to give a retort, Sammy was then a bit shocked to see that Boris was getting up and walking over towards them. He then figured that he had a numerous amount of questions that she did not have any good answers for, so for the time being he just hung his head low and groaned as she led him along a few corridors.

It didn’t take long before Charlie slowed down her pace to a stop and Sammy looked up curiously to what she was looking at. “Looks like it’s really dark up ahead.” he stated. As if she were reading his mind she then replied with “Let’s find some light.” she let go of his hand and they both looked around a bit and eventually she found a flashlight sitting on a nearby desk. Turning on the flashlight she and Sammy both started into the dark room only for her to turn back just to notice that Boris wasn’t following them.

Trying to reassure him Charlie walked back a little and said “Don’t be scared, Boris. I’ll keep the light near you so you don’t get lost.” This seemed to work at calming him down and he started to follow them again.

Within a few minutes of walking through the inky darkness Charlie pulled out her hand in a motion to try and stop Sammy and Boris. “Did you hear that?” she asked them hoping that at least Sammy would answer her which he did.

“No?”

They were stopped there for a moment as she seemed to be very confused at what she was hearing. She then asked again saying “That, the hundreds of different whispering faint voices. You’re saying you don’t hear that?” The response she got wasn’t exactly what she wanted to hear when Sammy replied with “No, I can’t.”

“Yeah. Me either.”

And then they continued walking but she could still hear it as nothing but questions lingered through her mind.

After a while they did get through the dark rooms only to stumble upon a dead end blocking their path. Sammy folded his arms on his chest and said “A dead end. I don’t see any other way through.” Charlie nodded and then looked at Boris asking “You got any ideas, Boris?”

Turning to look at her Sammy unfolded his arms and said “ What are you expecting from him? He can’t talk and from the looks of his hideout and the fact that he was scared of the dark, I don’t think that he has ever even been this way.”

But Sammy was cut short when Boris took the flashlight from Charlie’s hands, opened up an air vent, and started to crawl through. Moments later the door in front of them opened up, but Boris wasn’t on the other side. Charlie figured that he might be elsewhere waiting for them, but Sammy looked dumbfounded at what had just happened.


	4. Part 4: Bigger Than They Thought

Giving him a smirk she teased him by responding “You were saying?” to which he just looked at her annoyed and replied “Come on. We had better get moving.”

They walked forward into a large room filled with Bendy, Boris, and Alice plushies, multiple Bendy cutouts, and a large sign on the wall that read “Heavenly toys Joey Drew studios”. They both looked at their surroundings in awe, struggling to understand that this was under the studio somehow.

Sammy asked “When did this place get so big?”

“Wow … I don’t remember any of this.”

It took awhile but they did eventually remember what they were doing and continued moving forward into a room full of Bedy, Boris, and Alice plushies. Looking around a little Charlie finally turned to Sammy and asked “So that sign out there was for this, toy factory?”

“That’s what it appears to be.” This of course begged the question, how did Joey find a way to put an entire factory under the studio, and how many more floors were there to it? But when she started looking around for a door she found one which was blocked. The thing blocking it was bookshelves that had nothing but Boris plushies on it.Upon finding this Charlie said in a frustrated tone “Why is there always something blocking the door? Got to be a way through.”

Eventually Sammy came over to see what she was looking at and said putting a hand on his chin “That is a problem.” He started to look around the shelves and then pointed something out to Charlie “Look up on top of the shelf. This is on a mechanical railing.” She looked up to where he was pointing to, to indeed find it was on a track of some kind.

Gesturing towards the machine behind her she said “Maybe this has something to do with that. But it's got plushies jamming it.”

“Well that’s something we can easily fix.” So they got to work pulling out the plushies.

Within a few minutes they finished and pulled the lever to move the shelves, and while they were doing that Charlie noticed another tape recorder, so being curious she turned it on and it started playing. The voice that came out was one that she didn’t recognize and it had a distinct Irish accent so it wasn’t anybody she knew. But the message played out saying:

  
“I don’t be seeing what the big deal is.

So what if I went and painted some of those Bendy dolls with a crooked smile?

That sure no reason for Mr. Drew to be flying off the handle at me. And if he really wants to be so helpful, he could be telling me what I’m to be doing with this warehouse I got full of that angel whatchamacalllit. Not a scrap of that mess be selling!

Probably have to melt it all down to be rid of it all.”

Sammy surprised Charlie by coming up behind her and saying “If you ask me, I think a crooked smile would be more fitting for Bendy. Don’t you?”

She quickly turned to face him and said “It’s bad enough that I’m hearing faint whispering voices, could you maybe not sneak up on me like that.”

He stepped back a bit and said “Sorry.”

But she could tell that he was worried by his expression so she replied saying “It’s fine. Let’s just keep moving and hope that I can retain some sanity by the time we leave the studio. So are we able to get to the door yet?”

“Yeah, I’ve just got to pull the lever and we should be able to go.” he replied. He pulled the lever, she opened up the door, and they both walked through it. On the other side of the door was what looked like a sort of small stage behind glass, multiple tvs mounted on the walls, some speakers on the walls, a door behind the glass that had a star on it which read “Alice Angel”, and nothing but Alice merchandise decorating the entire room. Sammy then stuck close to Charlie and said in a shaky voice “Alice is my favorite character and all, but this is a bit … much. D-don’t you think?” Charlie nodded in agreement and even though she was just as scared as he was she kept on a brave face and started to slowly walk forwards.


	5. Part 5: Alice Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m still sick I’m sorry about not uploading much at all recently but at least I am slowly getting better. I hope you enjoy this latest part.

All of a sudden the lights went out and the tv screens started to turn on with pictures of alice on them, then a recording of alice singing started to play singing:

“I'm the cutest little angel, sent from above, and I know just how to swing.

I got a bright little halo, and I'm filled with love...

I'm Alice Angel!

I'm the hit of the party, I'm the belle of the ball, I'm the toast of every town.

Just one little dance, and I know you'll fall...

I'm Alice Angel!”

Next a spot light turned on and it was pointed directly at the stage while the music still kept going on and singing:

“I ain't no flapper, I'm a classy dish, and boy, can this girl sing.

This gal can grant your every wish…”

But then all at once the music stopped and the screens turned off but the stage light was still on. There was a deafening silence for half a second before a taller version of Alice popped out of nowhere behind the glass. She looked like a regular person who was dressed up as Alice angel but still made out of ink, she was missing one eye, her halo was crooked and poking out of her hair, and half of her face was messed up causing ridges on the side of her face and a large gash on half of her mouth which exposed her teeth. And then she started shouting “I'm Alice Angel!” while she pounded her fists on the glass causing it to break which knocked back both Charlie and Sammy to the ground as the stage light went out and they were left in darkness. Soon Alice started cackling, her voice sounded demonic but it also sounded like Susie Campbels voice. Charlie couldn’t see much other than what was illuminated by the faint light that emanated from Sammy’s eyes. Then Alice began to speak again, saying “I see you there. A new fly in my endless web. Come along now. Let’s see if you’re worthy to walk with angles.” And then the lights went back on.

Alice was nowhere to be found and she left no trace of her other than the broken shards of glass that were scattered on the floor now. Charlie and Sammy both look at each other with horrified expressions, not knowing what to do next.

Finally Charlie spoke saying “Was it just me or did she sound like Susie?”

Sammy replied “She probably was Susie. Remember when I told you that everyone here was someone who used to work here. Well it’s obvious who she is but not everybody is that obvious. For instance, I’m not sure who Bendy or Boris was but I know that they were people who worked here at one point or another.”

“So, I can get why you tried to kill me, no matter how bad I think your excuse is. Why is it that everything else in this studio, aside from Boris, wants to kill me?!” Charlie demanded. She was getting a bit too angry at everything that was happening to her in that studio, and this anger started bleeding through her voice consequently scaring Sammy. Noticing his reaction, she almost immediately changed her tone to one of caring saying “I didn’t mean to be angry at you or shout at you, I just…” She paused for a moment trying to find the right words to say eventually continuing with “I’m just getting so tired of having to fight for my life at every corner and being trapped in this god forsaken studio with creatures that want nothing but to see me dead.”

Sammy came over to her putting a hand on her shoulder reassuring her with “It’s ok. I understand… If I were in your position I would be the same way. But to answer your question, it’s because they don’t have all of their soul.”

Charlie looked up at him a bit confused at what he just said and she asked him, “What do you mean by that?”

“Well,” He started, “when we were turned into these things, our souls broke into multiple pieces. The creatures that are ‘alive’, are just the result of enough pieces of our souls gathered together in the ink. Some people don’t have enough pieces of their souls to actually remember who they are. Not even I have all of mine, there are alot of things I know we must have done while we worked in the studio but I don’t remember much of it. But why do they want to kill you? I really couldn’t tell you.”

Charlie looked at him a bit confused and finally asked “Then how do you know who Joey is, or Susie for that matter?”

Sammy looked away putting a hand to the back of his head and replied “I have a few memories of talking with them and this general feeling that they must have really annoyed me.” Charlie just smiled at this thinking fondly of the old times.

She eventually responded with “Yeah, I remember that you continuously tried to get Susie fired because she would pester you and I remember that at least once a week you would complain to Joey about another ink pipe bursting or the Music department being flooded with ink again. But how do you remember who I am?”

This apparently only made Sammy feel more uncomfortable as his tone turned to more apologetic as he finally replied “I don’t remember your name, but I remember that you used to own this studio with Joey, that we were friends, the fact that you were our female singing voice actress, and you left the studio not long before everything started to turn dark around here.”

“Well, at least you remembered the most important parts.” She started, “But since you don’t remember this, my name is Charlotte Stein, I go by Charlie though.” She gave him a warm smile which he returned only to then say “We should start moving forward if we are to have any hope of getting out of here.” Nodding they both got up and Charlie started to look around for another way through only to find that a door neither of them had previously seen was now open. It didn’t take long for Sammy to find it either so they both started walking through it and down the hallway that was behind it. Eventually they came to a split path with a road sign in front of them. The sign to the left read “The Demon” and beyond that on the path they could see eventually the corridor started to be flooded with ink. The sign to the right read “The Angel” and beyond that they could see that the path went up a bit.


	6. Part 6: Two Paths, Two Fates

Hesitantly Charlie said “I have the feeling that we should go down the demon path.”

Sammy replied with “That’s not a good idea for me.”

She looked back at him and asked “Why not?”

He replied “A drop of water in the ocean is barely seen again. If I touch that ink I’m going to disappear and just become another part of the ink.” This comment made her think as she put her hand to her chin trying to find a solution.

She eventually did and said, “Why don’t we split up then. I can take the demon path and you can take the angel path.” To her surprise Sammy didn’t put up much complaint and started walking down the angel path, so she started to walk down the demon path. Wading through the ink felt just as uncomfortable as ever but in her mind it was worth it because she found another tape recorder lying on a chair that was for some reason in there. She pressed play and the voice of her old friend Joey Drew came out saying:

“There’s nothing wrong with dreaming. Wishing for the impossible is just human nature. That’s how I got started. Just a pencil and a dream. We all want everything without even having to lift a finger. They say you just have to believe.

Belief can make you succeed. Belief can make you rich. Belief can make you powerful.

Why with enough belief, you can even cheat death itself.

Now that… is a beautiful, and positively silly thought.”

She smiled to herself fondly remembering all of the great times she had with Joey. Sure Joey wasn’t the most honest of people and he had this way of manipulating others, but she had known him since they were young. He always wanted to do something big, something that would get his name to be remembered throughout history and Charlie always tried to support him in his endeavours. When he first proposed the idea of them starting an animation studio together she was initially thrilled at the prospect of bringing her little doodled characters to life. That was also how she met Sammy. She and Joey were trying to find employees for their studio, which at the time was a small one storied building with a basement. It was about after a week of searching for a music director that she was starting to give up hope of finding one, so she went to the closest bar to try and relax a bit and not have to worry about it. 

There she found that it was a music bar. There was a band playing along to a pretty good song that she had never heard in her life. But among the members of the band was Sammy Lawrence plucking away at the Banjo. Charlie went up to the bar counter and the bartender came over and took her order. She was trying to listen along to the music until the bartender interrupted her thoughts by asking what brought her there. Explaining her futile search for a music director that actually wanted to work for an animation studio, the bartender just smiled at her and since the song was over he called over Sammy. He explained to Sammy that she was looking for a music director and after handing her her drink he left the 2 of them alone to chat. She explained to him her exact situation and Sammy beamed when he heard it. He told her that he loved to write songs, that the song that was played was actually written by him, and that he knew how to play multiple musical instruments.

To say the least Charlie was happy that she finally found someone for the job and when she introduced him to Joey he was just as excited as she was. But Charlie finally realized that she was reminiscing too long and that she needed to keep moving forward if she were to have any hope of getting out of the studio. Though before she left the room she grabbed the tape recorder. If anything she thought that maybe Sammy would want to hear it. She placed it in her pocket and continued to wade through the ink flooded room until finally she reached another hall that was not flooded. Walking down the hall and turning a corner she found herself face to face with Sammy again.


	7. Part 7: Did It Matter At All?!?

Did the two paths just end up going to the same location? Charlie thought to herself but the answer was quite clearly yes. This then begged the question, did it matter which corridor she took? Clearly not seeing as they were together again when originally they had split up. All of these thoughts were going through her mind so she didn’t really notice the few seconds that went by in an awkward silence on both sides. Thankfully Sammy was more aware of this than she was so he cleared his throat to grab her attention. It worked because she jumped a little in surprise and finally said “Sorry, I was lost in thought. Did you find anything?”

“Nothing much.” He started, “There was another tape recorder that Susie made which I think you should hear.”

Charlie returned with “I found a tape that Joey made which I think you should have a listen to first.” She pulled the recorder out of her pocket, and Sammy, though confused, nodded for her to continue. Pressing the button the recording played and she watched as his expression turned from curious to dark.

Once it finished he looked away from it ranting “I knew Joey had a few screws loose. I mean he put the ink pump switch in my office and would tell me when dead lines were almost too late. But this proves it!”

Charlie looked at him confused and said “Proves he was insane or something else that I am not aware of?”

Sammy almost looked offended that she didn’t know but he eventually replied with “It proves that he is the one behind us, the ink creatures, and exactly what happened to the studio!”

Sammy had anger issues, Charlie knew this, but he was sounding more angry than he usually did. Charlie reached out to put a hand on his shoulder but flinched back when he suddenly turned to see what she was doing. He looked surprised for a moment almost as if he had noticed her scared expression, but he then went back to his ranting in a more calm manner saying “I swear to god, if Joey is still around here somewhere, when I get my hands on him he is going to wish he never hired me.”

Putting up a finger Charlie corrected him with “I was actually the one who hired you. I just introduced you to Joey before I did.” That might not have been the best time to say it, because Sammy just whipped around to face her with a look of pure hatred in his eyes. Charlie flinched back regretting what she just said. He did notice the fearful look she had and he immediately backed down, his expression changed to be more sorrowful.

He then apologized saying “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

Chalie put on a warm smile and then playfully said “Who are you and what have you done to Sammy?” He didn’t understand why she said that and he gave her a very confused look. She felt a bit confused and asked him “Do you remember how you used to act when you worked here, or before that?”

Shaking his head he then replied saying “I don’t remember anything from before I worked at the studio and I only have tiny bits and pieces from working here. As said, I know a few things from small memories such as a few conversations. Mostly arguments.”

“That’s right. Yeah.” Charlie sighed out. Sammy had even less of his soul than she thought. It saddened her to think that if he was one of the rare few that actually remembered who they were, then if Joey was still here as one of these creatures, would he even remember their friendship. It then became obvious that Sammy could tell she was getting a bit upset at this fact because he wrapped his arms around her in a hug trying to help her feel better. She didn’t mind this but she wasn’t sure if she was that comfortable with it. Stepping back from the hug Charlie then said “You said that you had another tape made by Susie?”

Pulling back he then replied “Right! Yes! Take a listen to this.” He pulled out a tape recorder from his pocket and pressed play, and suddenly the voice of Susie came out but it sounded very sad. It said:

“Everything feels like it’s coming apart.

When I walked into the recording booth today, Sammy was there with that… Allison.

Apparently, I didn’t get the memo. Alice Angel will now be voiced by Miss Allison Pendle.

A part of me died when he said that.

There’s gotta be a way to fix this!”

“That sounds as creepy as I remember her” Charlie said nodding.

Sammy nodded then replied “I don’t remember any of that, or whoever that Alison person was. But I feel like I should know her.”

Charlie responded a bit sarcastically saying “Well you preferred her over Susie I know that for sure. I suppose your lack of memory might be a good opportunity for us to get to know each other again, huh?”

He started laughing and finally said “Yeah that would be nice.”

“Well that is a place to start. Before this happened” Charlie gestured to him trying to point out the fact that he was now made entirely of ink, she continued “You used to be the grumpiest person in the whole studio. Oh, and don’t get me started on your anger issues. If you ever came into work not wearing your signature scowl we would all wonder what was wrong. And the few times you would genuinely smile really creeped out many people in the studio. I got used to it but seeing everyone else's reaction was always so funny.”

Sammy seemed to be stifling back a laugh but managed to finally say “You know, that explains a lot.”


	8. Part 8: Back on Track

After a brief moment he finally said “But we should really get back on track, don’t you think?” Charlie nodded then started to move forward down the hallway. After taking a few turns down the hallway they walked through another door that led to another hallway. Right as they walked through though, a Bendy cutout popped out from around the corner and then was quickly pulled back out of sight. This nearly made Charlie jump out of fear, but when they rounded the corner they found Borris just standing there. The cutout was propped up against the wall next to him, and he also had a pipe in one hand.

Charlie breathed out a sigh of relief and finally said “Boris! You scared me to death!”

Sammy soon found himself agreeing with her saying “Why would you do that?”

This only made her chuckle as she replied to him with “You know he can’t talk right?”

Sammy’s only response was “Shut up! You do it too.”

Her grin grew wider at this but then she turned back to Borris and asked “Don’t suppose you found anything we can use to protect ourselves with?” Borris held up the pipe for Charlie to take which she did saying “This will do.”

“But what about you Sammy?” She asked as she turned to face him. He reached behind him and pulled out an axe out of thin air.

Holding it in both hands he replied “I’m good.”

Charlie only looked and felt more confused and finally asked “Where did you get that from? I mean you didn’t have it before.”

He shrugged and looked down at it saying “I don’t know. I have always just seemed to be able to pull these out of thin air since I turned into ink.” She just nodded and looked away as if to say ‘ok sure’.

Opening the door in front of them she still couldn’t help but think about what Sammy just said. If it weren’t for the fact that he wanted to sacrifice her to Bendy, he could have just as easily killed her. This was a disturbing thought which thankfully for her was interrupted by the fact that the next door encountered was another closed mechanical door. Charlie looked around for a way to open the door and found two cords running from it. One of them led to the left and seemed attached to a lever, the other ran to the right and around a corner past which they could not see. Stepping back a bit she said “Looks like to open this, we’re going to need to throw two levers at once. You get this one.” She pointed to the one they could see. “I’ll find the other. And you stay here with Boris, Sammy. Something tells me that unlike you he is defenceless.” she finished. Sammy just nodded at her as she started to follow the cord that led to the right.

It led to a dead end hallway with a poster of the butcher gang right at the end and next to it a lever. She walked forward to reach the lever and of course since she just got a weapon and left the other two, as is Murphy’s Law, something popped out from behind the poster and tried to kill her. Though she may have expected something to happen that doesn’t mean that she wasn’t scared out of her wits. The creature looked like a mutated version of the butcher gang member Charley. So the butcher gang were brought to life as well, or at least Charley was.

The creature moaned as it limped toward her holding out one of its hands trying to reach her. Charlie started hitting it with the pipe that was still in her hands until finally the creature fell to the ground in front of her. It almost landed on her feet but she dodged it quickly as it made a thud when hitting the ground. Then it started melting into a puddle of ink right before her causing her to instinctively step back. Sammy appeared at the opposite end of the hallway looking a bit surprised at the scene that lay before him. He quickly rushed to her side placing his hands on her shoulders asking “Charlie are you ok?” Looking back down at the puddle he then continued “And what is that … thing?”

Charlie looked up at him responding “I’m fine, and that thing was a Butcher Gang member. Charley to be exact.” The worried expression Sammy once had was now replaced by confusion, so she asked him “You remember the Butcher Gang … right?”

He nodded but then replied with “There are plenty of posters of them around the studio. I just don’t remember any of their names.”

She just rolled her eyes at this and then said “Well it doesn’t matter which one is which. Lets just throw the lever and get moving.”

Breaking free from Sammy’s grasp, Charlie carefully made her way around the puddle that lay in front of her and pulled down the lever. Heading back she looked at him saying “The door should be open now. Come on, let’s go.” He silently agreed and started to follow close behind her. They met up with Borris again and then started making their way down a different hallway only to find a set of stairs that led to an elevator.

The loud speakers came on and Alice’s, or what Charlie preferred to call her, Susie’s voice came out saying “You’re so interesting … so different. I have to say I’m an instant fan. Looks like you’ve got a date with an angel! Come to me now. Level nine. Just follow the screams.”

Sammy’s frustrated look mimicked perfectly exactly how Charlie felt in that instance. Susie wanted to see them, but why. The first impression Charlie got from what Susie had first said to them in the Alice angel room was that she would be like all the other creatures in the studio, wanting Charlie dead. But now she wants to talk face to face on what she said was “a date.” Of course Charlie knew that this meant trouble but at least she wasn’t alone facing these things anymore. Sammy and Boris were on her side … or at least Sammy was, Boris seemed a lot more defenceless on his own. But as always, she was thinking about everything a bit too much and didn’t notice the fact that Boris had already entered into the elevator and was waiting for them to catch up.

Waving his hand in front of her face, Sammy snapped Charlie out of the daydream state she was in. She glanced over at him and he was trying his hardest to stifle back a chuckle which she decided to ignore. Stepping into the elevator she pressed the button labeled 9 and the elevator started moving down. When they finally reached the floor the loud speakers came on again and Susie said “Come on, step out of your cage. There’s a whole twisted world out here.” If there wasn’t a truer statement. Sammy rolled his eyes as if to say “we know that.” Charlie just chuckled at that while Boris brushed past them and made his way to the large metal door that had a giant Alice angel above it holding a sign that read “She’s quite a gal!” He was soon followed by the other 2 until Charlie noticed another tape recorder lying on a bookcase shelf.

She pressed the play button then a voice came out saying:

“These blasted elevators … sometimes they open … sometimes they don’t … sometimes they come … sometimes they keep on going to hell and back.

I keep telling these people, if Mister Joey Drew keeps cutting corners like this, someone’s sure to end up falling to their death. And it sure ain’t going to be me.

I’m taking the stairs.”

Looking back at her Sammy said “Interesting, but not what we are here for. Come on Charlie, lets see what she wants.” Nodding, Charlie made her way in front of the large door. It started opening and as soon as it was fully open Boris ran in like it was urgent while she and Sammy just stared on in confusion. After a second he finally asked “What was that about?”

She turned to look at him and replied “Let’s find out.” Then they made their way through the large door and down the hallway that preceded it until they found where Boris had gone. Boris stood in front of another Boris that was spliced open laying on a pedestal like the one Charlie had seen from up stairs. But it wasn’t just one Boris, there were many of them and multiple Butcher gang members as well. All of them spliced open on a pedestal. The sight was just as horrific as it was the first time Charlie had seen a Boris.


	9. Part 9: A Date With An Angel

Susie’s voice came out on the loudspeaker saying “Look around. It took so many of them to make me so beautiful. Anything less than perfect was left behind. I had to do it. She made me.” Sammy and Charlie just look at everything that was around them disgustedly.

Finally Charlie spoke out “She who? Who would make you do something this horrific?” She got no reply. Her question never got an answer so instead Charlie decided to take a look around the horrific scene that lay before her. They were standing on a small platform just above a large pool of ink. Multiple wooden planks were held up just above the ink, held there by a bunch of barrels that were mostly submerged in the pool. And on the opposite side of the room there were two more small platforms, one that was attached to a small hallway, the other had a desk on it with another recorder lying on the top.

The wooden planks had made a sort-of path above the ink to the other platforms. They looked stable enough to withstand all their weight but only wide enough to allow one person passage at a time. Turning to face Sammy again, Charlie said “Let’s go across here and see what Susie wants.” He looked nervous about the idea and a bit fearful. It was then that she remembered what he said would happen if he touched the ink pool so she thought better of it and said “Actually, why don’t you just stay here and wait for me? I’ll go talk to her.” He silently nodded and Charlie made her way over the planks.

Each plank creaked with every one of her footsteps as she made her way across. Charlie had decided not to listen to the recording because it was most likely another one of Susie’s and it would probably sound just as crazy as the others. She finally made her way across and down the hallway to a dimly lit room where Susie was waiting for her behind a glass wall. Susie stood before a control panel and there was another Butcher Gang member strapped down on a table to her right. This one wasn’t dead yet though, this one was struggling to get free and was hooked up to a bunch of electric wires.

Charlie stopped in the center of the room and that is when Susie started to speak saying “Hmm. Now we come to the question… Do I kill you? Do I tear you apart to my heart's delight?” She looked too pleased with herself as she continued “The choices of the beautiful are unbearable. How’s a girl to choose?” Her expression changed from delighted to that of hatred as she said “Take this little freak for instance! He crawled in here … trailing his tainted ink to my door! It could’ve touched me! It could’ve pulled me back!” Shrinking back into herself she resumed in a small voice “Do you know what it’s like? Living in the dark puddles?” She paused for a second straightening back up then saying in a more confident voice “It’s a buzzing, screaming well of voices! Bits of your mind, swimming … like … like fish in a bowl! The first time I was born from its inky womb, I was a wiggling, pussing, shapeless slug. The second time … well … It made me an angel! I will not let the demon touch me again. I’m so close now. So … almost perfect.” Breathing out a satisfied sigh she let herself relax before finally addressing Charlie again saying “Yes, I will spare you. For now. Better yet … I’ll even let you ascend and leave this place. If you will do a few eensy weensy little favors for me first. Return to the lift my little errand girl. We have work to do!”

She pressed a button on her control panel and a large metal wall came down in front of the glass leaving Charlie alone in the room once again. Charlie felt a little frustrated since she barely got to get a word into their “conversation” but she decided to let it go and hope that Susie would keep her word. She made her way back over to Sammy who was now leaned up against a wall with his arms folded over his chest. But one thing that stood out to Charlie was the fact that Boris was no longer there. When she finally reached Sammy he stood up uncrossing his arms and asked her “So, what happened?”

“She claims she’ll let us leave the studio if we do a few tasks for her.” Charlie replied, though she wasn’t paying as much attention at the moment due to the fact she was wondering where Boris had gone.

“Do you think we should trust her?” Sammy asked with a worried look.

“No.” Charlie started “But I think it’s better to make a friend rather than an enemy.” After a short pause she then asked “Where did Boris go?”

“He went back to the elevator.” Sammy replied plainly, pointing back to where they came from with his thumb. She nodded in reply and started to head in that direction with Sammy not too far behind her.

Exiting Susie’s lair, neither Charlie or Sammy got very far before the speakers turned on with Susie’s voice coming out saying “You there. Ink boy.” Sammy looked up with a confused look and pointed at himself to which she said “Yes, you. My machines are hungry. Gather me some spare parts from upstairs. And while you’re up there, find those Bendy cutouts and chop them to pieces. Head back towards my door I have something that you are going to need. And you, errand girl. I have a much more important task for you. Go down to the lower levels and I’ll tell you more once you’re there.”

Charlie looked slightly annoyed at being called “errand girl” but was more concerned that Susie was splitting them up. Sammy didn’t seem as concerned as he just headed over to the now open panel which contained a wrench, right next to the door. Once the wrench was in his hand they both made their way to the elevator only to find Boris already in it. Boris was in the far corner of the elevator, hunched over, and trying to cover his face with his hands which wasn’t working because Charlie could clearly see the look of terror which covered his face. They both entered into the elevator, then pressed the buttons for the top floor and the bottom floor.

As the elevator started moving up, Charlie could feel a knot starting to form in the pit of her stomach. Aside from the obvious, something about this didn’t feel right. Like they were walking right into a death trap. To try and calm her nerves Sammy reached his hand out and placed it on her shoulder giving her a warm smile which she returned, only for them both to be interrupted by the dinging sound, indicating that they had reached the top level that the elevator could reach.


	10. Part 10: Sammy’s Tasks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of short, sorry.

The elevator doors opened and before Sammy could step out Susie’s voice came out on the speakers again saying “There are so few rules to our world now. So little truths. But there is one rule we all know and respect down here. Beware the ink demon. Stay out in the open for too long and he will find you. For if you see him, you’d better hide. But … have you even met him? They say he hears everything. Every creak of the floor. Every rustle of paper. I wouldn’t run too fast if I were you. You never know what will draw him in. Now, let us begin our work.

Stepping out Sammy turned to face Charlie as the doors closed. She looked back at him with a nervous smile and said “Good luck” while the elevator moved down and out of sight. Sammy sighed heavily before looking back to the direction he was heading in and then thought “I’m sure going to need luck for whatever Susie has in store for me.” Though he’d never admit it, he didn’t think that Charlie’s plan to kill Bendy and escape the studio was going to work at all. In fact, he already knew that the studio was in itself a death trap but finding that it was even deeper than either of them had thought only confirmed this. The only reason why he had agreed to help was because if anything he could at least keep her alive for a while before she fell victim to the deathtrap that is the studio.

Making his way forward, Susie’s voice came back on the speakers saying “Open the metal panels and collect the cogs. That’s all you have to do.”

“I’m starting to see why I never liked her.” Sammy muttered under his breath as he headed towards the toy factory to find the cogs.

He gathered the cogs and destroyed the Bendy cutouts as Susie instructed before returning to the lift. When the elevator finally reached the level he was on he decided to go down to the lowest level and see if he could help Charlie in anyway.


End file.
